Manufacture of wire glass



M. L. BEGEMAN MANUFACTURE OF W'IRE Guss- Filed May 14, 1931 A ril 18, 1933.

INVENTOR MYWIV L. 856E014 BY HIS ATTORNEYS v @14 v M,

I I F. 0 .1

:5 WW E Patented Apr. 18, 1933 UNITED STATES: PATENT MYRON L. BEGEMAN, or ST. LOUIS, MIssoUatI. AssreNojn'jio ivrrss ssnfir eLAss ooivr- PANY, on NEW YORK, N. Y.,A' CORPOR4TIO1\TO F new YORK,"

MANUFACTURE or WIRE GLASS Application filed ma 14,

This invention pertains to the manufacture of wire glass by the process of forming a first half-sheet, laying the reinforcing wire on that first half-sheet, and then welding the second half-sheet thereon.

It has been customary to form'the two. half-sheets between pairs of rolls, but that process hasjnot been satisfactory on account of the fact that the rolls chill the sheets to a certain extent, forminga skin or film on the sheet surfaces so that when the two halfsheets are brought together it is diificult to get a perfect weld between the half-sheets.

If a'sheet (or half-sheet) be formed between a roll and a non-rotatable member, the surface formed by the gate is not chilled, therefore no skin forms onthat surface and it welds easily.

In my application Serial No. 364,7 1,filed May 21, 1929, of which this application is a continuation in part, apparatus is shown for forming half-sheets between rolls and gates and then Welding the two half-sheets together, the weld taking place between the surfaces formed by the non-rotatable members.

It has been found that, under certain conditions, good welds may-be obtained between half-sheets-when only one of the contacting surfaces is formed by a rotatable member, and the principal object of the present invention is to disclose apparatus and method for forming sheets in that manner. 7

Further and other objects and advantages will be apparent from the specification and claims, and from the accompanying drawing which illustrates Whatis now considered the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows in cross-section apparatus for forming one half-sheet between rolls, the

other half-sheet between a roll and a gate,

with a pair of rolls for welding the two halfsheets together. 1

Fig. 2 shows in cross-section a-modification in which one half-sheet is formed between rolls and the other half-sheet is formed between the welding rolls, the gate serving to control the flow of metal which forms the second half-sheet.

In the drawing, molten metal 10 flows 1931. SeriaLNo. 537,370.

over furnace lips 12 and '14o'nto the {upper surfaces of rollsj16 and18. 'Above roll 18 (Fig. ,is anadjustableroll 20, to form 7 between those rolls a passin which the halfsheet 22 is formed. ;Above= roll 16 is an adjustable gate 17, the lower edgeof which is set near roll 16 toform therebetween a ,pass in which the half-sheet 24., is formed.

The two half-sheets are carried by their respective lower rolls through the pass formed-between rolls 1'6 and 18 wherejthe half sheets are Welded together. to form the finished sheet26. The halfesheet-24 containsenough heat to break down the film on halfsheet 22 and-thereby. permit the half-sheets to properly weld together. Any slight surplus of metal formsaball 28 between rolls 16 and 18, and serves to compensate for any irregularities in the thickness of the halfsheets. 7 Y

In Fig. 2, a half-sheet 22 is formed, as before, between rolls 18 and 20, but gate 17 instead of forming a'passbetween itself and roll. l6,'is moved. away from that roll to simply control the position of the metal that.

forms the second half-sheet. In this modification there is a sufiicient mass of metal over the point where the finished sheet is formed to overcome the chill on the firstsheet and thereby insure a good weld in the.

final forming pass between rolls 16 and 18. The body ofmolten metal serves also to take care of any irregularities in thickness of the rolled half-sheet. 7 I r In case it is desired to have reinforcing Wire in the finished sheet, the wire 30 is fed, past guide rollers 32 to rest on the surface of the first half-sheet, upon which it rides through the final roll pass to emerge in the middle of the finished sheet 26. 7

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment herein illustrated and described but may be used in other ways without departure from its spirit as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for making glass, a pair of forming rolls means for feeding molten metal between said rolls to form a half-sheet,

means comprising a roll and a non-rotatable nature.

member adjacent thereto and with said roll forming a pass to produce a second halfsheet, and means for welding said half-sheets to form a single sheet.

2. In apparatus for making sheet glass, a pair of rolls, means for feeding molten metal onto each of said rolls, a roll adjacent one of said pairs of rolls for controlling the flow of metal thereover, a non-rotatable member adjacent the other of said pair of rolls'and with the other of said rolls forminga pass for controlling the flow of metal thereover, and means for subsequently passing the metal from both rolls simultaneously through a sheet-forming pass to weld them into a single sheet. I

3. The invention set forth in claim 2 in which said sheet forming pass comprises the space between said pair of rolls. {1. The invention set forth in claim 1 in which means is provided for guiding reinforcing wire between said half-sheets whereby said wire is embedded in the finished sheet;

5. The invention set forth in claim 2 in which means is provided for guiding reinforcing wire through said forming pass whereby said wire is embedded in the finished sheet.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my sig- MYRON L. BEGEMAN. 

